Join the Community!

The Sun

The Sun: Very Close, Very Average, Very Spherical, Very Active, Very Energetic, Prime of Life

VERY CLOSE: At about 93 million miles (1 astronomical unit/AU) or 8 light minutes from Earth, the Sun is up close and personal. The closest stars from the Sun are Proxima Centauri (4.25 ly) and Sirius (8.55 ly).

VERY AVERAGE: Of the spectral type G2V, the Sun’s surface temperature is about 5800 Kelvin. It is average in size (1 million miles in diameter), average in life cycle (5 billion years with 5 billion years more to go), and average in composition (76% Hydrogen and 22% Helium). Unlike most stars that are in a binary star system, the Sun is lonely.

VERY SPHERICAL: Due to an inward pushing force due to gravitational contraction and outward pushing force due to high pressure from high temperature, the sun achieves hydrostatic equilibrium.

VERY ENERGETIC: The Sun emits 1026 watts into space with solar winds. Nuclear fusion occurs with 657 million tons of H2 (hydrogen) fused into 653 million tons of He (helium) every second.

LAYERS OF THE SUN: The four parts of the Sun are: core, photosphere, chromosphere, and corona. Inside the core at 15 million Kelvin, nuclear fusion produces energy by fusing 2 hydrogen atoms into 1 helium atom. The energy is then carried from the core by radiation and convection. The photosphere (5,800 Kelvin) is the outermost/lowest level of solar atmosphere. In 1814, German physicist Joseph von Fraunhofer discovered the set of spectral lines (AKA Fraunhofer Lines), or dark features, in the optical spectrum of the Sun. Active with plages, prominences, filaments, sunspots, and solar flares, the photosphere has granulation, or pockets (granules) of hot gases rising and pockets of cooler gases sinking. Hotter than the photosphere at 15,000 Kelvin, the chromosphere is a thin diffuse layer composed of spicules, or dynamic jets. The corona at 2 million Kelvin is only observed during a total solar eclipse. A thin layer, the corona emits mostly X-rays.

SUNSPOTS: Sunspots are areas of unusually strong magnetic fields, of relatively dark and cool areas with umbra and penumbra, usually in pairs, and of sizes greater than several Earth’s in diameter. The number of sunspots varies with an 11-year cycle (Sunspot Cycle). During the Maunder Minimum from 1645 to 1715, the number of sunspots was unusually low. Moreover, during the Solar Cycle (22-year cycle), the polarity of the sunspots reverses and returns to the original state.

The Author

Astronomy: To Infinity and Beyond! Welcome to "The Cosmos." I will take you on a journey through our solar system, galaxy, and the Universe! You will be updated with current events in astronomy. Please click on the picture above to visit my blog on poetry, writings, and musings!

Follow me on Twitter

Blog Stats

69,253 views

Copyright

References for photos used from websites can be found under the "References" page. Photo credit: news sites (reference included in post), NASA (most images used), and Google (for artists' view of objects unable to be photographed).